


Steve and Bucky's Hunger Games Education

by Supercatural98



Series: The Modern Day Education of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Natasha loves the hunger games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-26 11:31:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3849316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Supercatural98/pseuds/Supercatural98
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha loves the Hunger Games. A lot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steve and Bucky's Hunger Games Education

 

“What do you mean, you’ve not seen The Hunger Games, Steve?!” Natasha squawked, setting the tablet down on the coffee table where both Steve and Bucky’s feet were rested and looking intensely at him.

Bucky snorted. Natasha’s ice cold glare was immediately inflicted on him, so he raised his hands quickly in surrender. When she turned back to Steve, he spoke up.

“What’s The Hunger Games?”

“Oh no.” Clint’s voice carried through from another room, at the same time as Tony yelled, “You’re going to regret asking that!”

Natasha rolled her eyes, but picked up the tablet once more.

“What are you doing?” Steve asked cautiously.

“Beginning your education, _grandpa._ ”

***

Three days later, Natasha appeared on Steve and Bucky’s floor armed with a large package. She dropped it on the table in front of them as they ate their breakfasts, and grinned so widely that it was verging on creepy.

“Are you ready to begin your education on The Hunger Games?” She asked them.

Bucky looked at Steve and shrugged, and Steve hesitated. Natasha raised an eyebrow threateningly, so he nodded hastily. She smirked at him, and reached into the box. She started pulling out books, and soon both Bucky and Steve had three paperbacks stacked in front of them.

“Read.” The assassin ordered them, before turning and leaving them alone. They sat for a few minutes in a slightly shocked silence, before returning to their food and eyeing the books warily. Steve picked up the one on top of the pile – The Hunger Games – and turned it over to read the blurb on the back. He had to admit, it sounded like a good book, and he hurried just a little to finish up so he could start it. He dumped his plate in the sink, and flopped onto the couch. Bucky watched his friend – were they even friends anymore? – with curiosity, and picked up his own copy. He began to leaf through the pages, but then Steve was shouting across the room at him.  
“Don’t you _dare_ read the end. I don’t want any spoiler risks!”

Bucky looked at him, incredulous. “Where did that come from?”

Steve blushed slightly. “It sounds like a good book,” he said with a shrug. He got an eye roll in response but then Bucky stood up, put his plate in the sink on top of Steve’s, and squeezed down on the couch beside Steve with his book.

***

Two hours later, Steve was trying hard to suppress sobs. He refused to tell Bucky why, until he caught up with him.

Ten minutes after that, Bucky and Steve were cuddled up tightly to each-other bawling their eyes out. Natasha came down to their floor, saying that Jarvis had told her they seemed “in distress”. She took one look at the books in their hands and nodded once, before fishing a box of tissues out of one of the cupboards. She wrapped an arm around each of them and hugged them tight, all the while thinking about how ridiculous it was that she was comforting a pair of over-emotional grown men who were crying over Rue’s death.

***

Steve and Bucky didn’t leave their floor for two days, their hearts set on finishing the trilogy. Natasha had strictly forbidden anyone from interrupting them, except for herself. But that was only to make sure they ate. Sleep could wait.

When they did reappear, both and looked… shocked. Tony stared at them when they entered his floor, where everyone else was already seated on the couches, and a movie was ready to play on the TV.

“You finished them, then?” he asked, grinning. Steve nodded slowly.

“We have the movies now! Gotta get you up to speed because Mockingjay comes out tomorrow, and we are _going_.” Natasha called from her spot on the couch, wedged between Thor and Clint. Clint was looking for the remote, and the Asgardian turned to look at them, beaming.

“Did you enjoy your reading? I found the books to be an excellent way of passing my time. I read them three months ago, at Jane’s recommendation.”

Bucky was gawking. “He’s not even _human_ and he’s read them. God, Steve, we missed out on something big here.”

Steve flushed and looked at the ground. “Well you _were_ a deadly assassin, and I was frozen. And then we were… Busy.”

“Don’t wanna know, guys,” Clint called over, holding up the remote which he’d managed to locate. “Hurry up and sit down, we’re ready.”

There was only one armchair left, so Steve sat down and pulled Bucky into his lap. It was surprisingly comfortable, even if Steve’s legs went numb after a while.

The two men barely moved a muscle for half the movie until they exchanged one look as they realised which part of the movie they were getting to, and hugged eachother tightly. Thor looked over at them in confusion, and Natasha could see the moment he figured it out. She pulled her own knees up to her chest.

Five minutes after, every single one of the grown men were trying their damnedest not to cry, and Natasha had plastered a blank look on her face as she watched.

“Ruuuuueeeee,” Bucky was wailing, and Clint glared at him with red eyes.

“Shut up, you big baby.”

Tony looked between the two of them and rolled his eyes, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping the tear tracks from his cheeks. Bruce was rocking silently on the couch beside him, his bottom lip quivering as he desperately tried to hold himself together.

By the end of the movie everyone had moved onto the floor and were curled up against each-other. No-one said a word as the credits rolled, and Natasha changed the discs in the DVD player, putting Catching Fire on.

There were tears and cheers, and when this movie finished, everyone bade each-other goodnight, and headed back to their floors.

***

The next morning, Natasha woke Steve and Bucky by pounding on their bedroom door.

“Wake up, you lazy old men!” She screeched. “We’ve got a movie to see!”

Steve’s eyes snapped open, and he sat bolt upright. “Okay, okay! We’re awake, Nat. Give us ten minutes!”

Bucky grumbled something into his pillow in protest, but rolled over and slid out of bed anyway. Checking the time, he saw it saw past noon, and he headed into the bathroom to have a quick shower.

Ten minutes turned into nearly an hour while the two men got washed and dressed. Natasha glared at them when they went up to Tony’s floor again.

“I don’t know what you’ve been doing, but I know it wasn’t good.” She warned them. “Hurry up, the film’s in two hours, so we can go to that diner Clint likes to grab some brunch and then go.”

“You couldn’t just have waited to go later on tonight?” Tony asks, frowning slightly.

Natasha raised an eyebrow, and Clint cleared his throat.

“Do you honestly think it’s a good idea to take the three prehistoric creatures to the movies at a peak time? Especially when one of them is a national treasure and another isn’t even human?” He pointed out, and Tony shrugged in response. Bruce appeared in the doorway, looking half asleep, and Thor was right behind him and bouncing around excitedly.

***

“Steve, Bucky, Thor. Do you have ID with you? You’re on concessions tickets.” Natasha informed them. Clint snorted.

“Like they’re gonna believe _that_ ,” He told her.

“Worth a shot,” She replied with a wink.

Tony pushed his way in between them. “You know money isn’t a problem, guys. Just get the normal tickets!”

Natasha looked at him indignantly. “Am I not allowed to have some fun?” She asked, crossing her arms indignantly.

Bruce laughed softly somewhere behind them. “I really want to see their faces.”

Natasha lead the way up to the ticket desk, armed with Tony’s credit card. She smiled sweetly at the employee.

“I’d like three concessions tickets, and four adult tickets for Mockingjay, please.”

The boy looked at her in disbelief. “M-may I ask who the concessions are for, ma’am?”

Natasha’s smile grew into a more deadly grin. “Of course.” She turned to the group of men waiting behind her. “Steve! Thor! Bucky!”

The three of them walked over so they were standing behind her. The young man frowned. “I’m sorry, ma’am, gentlemen. I’m going to have to charge you full price, since you’re clearly not older than sixty-five years old.”

Bucky snorted at that. “Why does everyone assume that? I’m ninety-eight! He’s ninety-six,” He told the clerk, pointing at Steve. “And he’s over a thousand, I think.” He continued, clapping a hand onto Thor’s shoulder. The clerk looked irritated now, and Steve looked at Bucky with an eye roll.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t appreciate your silly prank,” the boy told them, trying to be stern. Steve sighed.  
“Do you want ID, son?”

The clerk hesitated, clearly not expecting that response. He nodded slowly, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

Thor was beaming at him, and he pulled out his old SHIELD ID card from his pocket.

Steve and Bucky both had their driving licenses and put them on the counter, sliding them towards the clerk. He picked them up and looked up at them, then down at their ID again several times.

“H-How?” he managed to say, looking somewhat bug-eyed.

Natasha smiled at him, with “I told you so” written into her features.

“I’m Captain America,” Steve said with a shrug, by means of explanation. The clerk’s eyes looked like they were about to bug out of his head.

“Oh.” He murmured. “Well here’s your tickets,” he said, pushing them towards Natasha, who dropped some notes in front of him before striding off in the direction of the snacks counter.

Bucky was clutching tightly to Steve’s hand and pointing at the popcorn.

“Do you think it’s changed?” he asked Steve, who shrugged.

“I don’t know, Bucky. I’ve not tried modern day popcorn. Want some?”

Bucky nodded enthusiastically, and pulled Steve up to the counter. “We’d like two large tubs of popcorn, please!”

The young girl behind the counter nodded. “What flavour?”

“What flavours do you have?”

“Uh, there’s sweet, butter-“

“Sweet!” Bucky interrupted. “Please,” he added hastily, when Steve gave him a look.

The girl smiled, and made up their tubs of popcorn. Steve handed over the money and took his popcorn in one hand, clasping Bucky’s hand with his other one. Thor looked at their tubs curiously.

“What is that, Steve?”

“Popcorn. I think you’d like it.” Thor looked thoughtful.

“Okay, Good Captain. I trust your judgement. I will buy some of this… _Popcorn_!” He walked up to the counter and Steve could see him point back at him and Bucky, explaining what he wanted. The girl gave him an identical tub, and he gave her the money. He must’ve said something unintentionally flirtatious, because the girl was blushing furiously as Thor headed back to them.

“Ready boys?” Natasha asked, joining them with a container with cheesy nachos. They all nodded eagerly, and she led them down to the theatre.

There was no one else in with them, which was strange considering how new a release the movie was. Steve suspected that she had picked an unpopular time for a reason, but he wasn’t sure why.

***

He found himself in agreement with this decision when Thor and Bucky started throwing popcorn at the screen whenever they didn’t like what was happening in the movie. This soon evolved into them throwing popcorn at each other and Bucky grew more and more irritated, until he dumped the remainder of his popcorn onto Thor’s head. Steve was glad Thor didn’t have Mjolnir with him, nor was he annoyed by Bucky’s actions. Instead he simply sat eating the stray popcorn pieces out of his lap, and offering Bucky his own box.

“I like popcorn,” He announced loudly in the middle of the film. Natasha threw a cheesy nacho at him. He picked it up off of his shoulder, and ate it.

“Thankyou, Natasha. I like this too.” He told her, quieter this time. She punched him in the arm.

***

At the end of the film, Steve was clutching Bucky’s arm, wide eyed. “What did they _do_ to Peeta?” he whispered, and Natasha looked at him sympathetically. Clint shrugged.

“I don’t know, you’re the ones who read the books. I came for the hot chick.” He said, grinning.

“Shut up, Katniss,” Natasha growled at him.

“What? How am I Katniss?”

Tony looked at him tiredly. “Did you not pay attention to _any_ of that movie?”

Clint shrugged.

“Watch out, she’ll be calling you catnip next,” Bucky told him with a chuckle.

“Catnip? What?”

“Shit, Clint. What do you _do_ when we watch movies?!” Tony muttered.

“Language!” Steve shrieked. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise. “Sorry… It just… slipped out?”  No one said a word. His shoulders slumped. “I’m not going to live this down, am I?”


End file.
